Thursday, March 30, 2006

Serb hopes of own entity in Kosovo dashed

By Matthew Robinson

PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro (Reuters) - The United Nations on Thursday dashed Serb hopes of their own "entity" in Kosovo and issued a stark response to those threatening to leave if the Albanian majority wins independence.

"When told me they couldn't live in an independent Kosovo, if this is the outcome of the status process, I told them: This is your decision, we cannot force you to stay," Albert Rohan, the deputy U.N. envoy in negotiations on Kosovo's fate, told reporters in the capital Pristina.

The Austrian diplomat, who on Wednesday visited Serbs in the north, outlined an initial proposal for Kosovo's future governing structure, the fruit of the first two rounds of Serb-Albanian talks in Vienna.

He ruled out any form of separate entity or autonomy for the 100,000 remaining Serbs, as demanded by Belgrade:

"We made it clear that this does not mean and cannot mean the creation of a separate entity," he said.

"We oppose any internal division of Kosovo and we oppose any third layer of government between the central authority and the municipalities."

Rohan is deputy to U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari, who is leading negotiations on the fate of the disputed Serbian province, run by the United Nations since the 1998-99 war.

Western powers have made increasingly clear they see independence as the only realistic outcome. Kosovo's two million Albanians, 90 percent of the population, have long demanded their own state and have run their affairs since 1999.

But the Serb-dominated north has resisted U.N. efforts to reintegrate it with the rest of Kosovo, threatening the province with de facto partition.

SPLIT IN TWO

Serbia lost control of Kosovo -- its "Jerusalem" -- when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities against Albanian civilians in a 2-year war with separatist guerrillas, the culmination of a decade of Serb repression.

Half the Serb population fled a wave of revenge attacks. Those who stayed eke out a grim existence on the margins of society, cocooned in a Belgrade-run world of "parallel structures" outside Kosovo's Albanian-dominated institutions.

The leaders of three mainly Serb municipalities in the north, which enjoy a natural land link to central Serbia, warned on Wednesday that Kosovo would be split in two if the U.N. Security Council grants independence later this year.

Many Serbs living in scattered enclaves across the rest of Kosovo say they will pack their bags and leave.

But partition, with implications of forced population movements, is a taboo concept in the West.

Rohan argued that the plan for decentralisation, the core of negotiations that began last month in Vienna, should provide the Serbs with enough local powers to convince them to stay.

The document allows for cooperation between Serb areas within Kosovo and financial donations from Belgrade.

"What we can do is to provide conditions where objectively we can expect the Serbs to stay and to come back," said Rohan, ahead of the next round of talks on April 3. "Whether they want to stay, to return, to leave, is their decision."

The problem is financial 'donations' from Belgrade. Remember Bosnia and Republika Srpska? That same sort of instability will happen in Kosovo. The international community still has not learnt it's lesson from that debacle.

Check that: the only thing they have learnt was not to create so-called 'entities'.

thats where i agree with you, and thats why there should be a clear cut.Give Serbs the lands where they live as of 1998, and then the new state will have no ties of what so ever with Serbia or Belgrade. A clear cut, black and white, and no more grey areas.

Its called Ethnic Albania, an Albania that is consisted of lands where Albanians have lived for ages. But don't worry, that dream belongs to our great great grandfathers, not us.

Now here is what will happen. Kosova will become a state, a Dardanian state, and we will start competing with your country from the start, so get ready for some progres and economic development, and learn to respect your neighbours from your part please.

I wish the best to Serbia, the better they are, the better we will be.

you forgot that Presevo, parts of Macedonia and parts of Montenegro are not the issue being discussed in the current situation, only Kosovo, so if you follow even further your logics, don't get insulted if others then accuse you of creating greater Albania.Currently Albanians are not in a bargaining position to request even further than Kosovo, so get a bit more realistic.Besides, if you are so eager to keep the areas inhabited by Serbs, don't get suprised if your future country will be instable. It is obvious that Serbs don't want under no means to live together with you in your future state, so you wanting to keep them will just provoke a new sort of tyrrany.

Singidunum, your logic is an insult to evolution. You cannot pick and choose what is the issue or not. You start something it doesnt stop where you like it to stop. As you remember you started with the removal of Kosova autonomy and the whole planet knows where it ended. Your choice is simple we can go on as enemies for a very long time as we have until now or you turn over and get fucked in the ass. Your choice is clear so bend over bitch.

why are we even discussing this? the international states have decided that there will not be a division of Kosova/o, so please disscuss issues that are on the table at present time.oh and the other argument that the serbians cannot live with albanians, well there is always Serbia, go live there. Just like the albanians in the Preshevo valley, if they don't like it, leave. So please spare us of all the rhetoric, and get real.

There was a discussion about ex-YU issue not regional. However, at this point, EPIRUS issue, if you think it's an issue and need to be resolved, it would still enlarge albanian borders. As you should know, Epirus was Albanian State later named Çameria, whose ihabitants were/are albanian orthodox. Let's leave this for later, too early to bring this to the table.

Singidunum,

You are fueling to no Ethnic Albanian State and on the other hand saying that Kosova should be divided!

"It is obvious that Serbs don't want under no means to live together with you in your future state, so you wanting to keep them will just provoke a new sort of tyrrany."

You're like contradictiong yourself. I think this will be like Mr. Alber Rohan said today: if you don't like new Kosovo State, your wont be forced to stay.

"oh and the other argument that the serbians cannot live with albanians, well there is always Serbia, go live there"

or YOU can go back to Albania. It's a two sided arguement. International powers are incredibly stupid (I overestimated them) if they rule out partitioning. Essentially Kosovo would be following SERBIA's standard of Kosovo's 'territorial integrity' if there is no partition. (Which means you will ilve in a state whose borders were set by Serbians not Albanians) That dosent make much sense to me at all. If they TRULY want a everyone-happy solution then they know specific partitioning is it. I dont believe thats what they want though even though they said it.

Nice try at insulting me Titan. But nothing I said was "middle-age minded". There is 2 sides to every arguement.

Kosovo was once PART of Serbia not an "autonomous region" within it. The Serbs there were the same as Serbs in Serbia Proper. However wars have forced the Serbians today to segregate themselves and become known as "Kosovo Serbs" or "Bosnian Serbs". It's kinda funny how much we seem to be "relabeled" when we are all just Serbians.

Mir, if I promise you to go back to Albania..or better yet Africa (wherever)...will you promise me to take 1/2 of your people to the Ural Mts aka Russia and the other half to the tribunal Hague?

Ivan

First of all bravo, I was sure you were going to somehow mess up the word DARDANIA. Second of all I would like to comment you.

"I dont understand the west why it does not allow the two people to split in two ways, and then let us form good neighbourhood relations."

Let's take your advice and give the Hungarians in Vojvodina a choice to become a country or join Hungary and the same with Montenegro. It is hard for a Kosovar see a Serbian raise the Serbian flag when he knows the day his street were being tourched or massacred his neighbor was playing loud Serbian music with the lyrics "Kosovo is Serbias forever". It's hard to love the people who are backbone support of the people who killed and murdered you. It would be like me asking you to love UCK..even though they have yet to come to Belgrade and do the things Chetniks did.

"Let's take your advice and give the Hungarians in Vojvodina a choice to become a country or join Hungary and the same with Montenegro"

Hungarians amount to 300 thousand people in Serbia. And I say yes, if we were to follow this principle across the Balkans then let it be so. Montengor already has this choice, and Serbia doesent oppose it. But what I am worried is that according to this principle Serbs have rights to request territory from Montenegro, Macedonia, lets not forget Republika Srpska, then Kninska Krajna, and last but not least Northen area of Kosovska Mitrovica, and other enclaves where Serbs live in Kosovo and Metohija.

This would be a good deal for Serbs.

But we are not discussing here the issue of demographic distribution across balkans, but the issue of Kosovo and Metohija. That is where there is a problem, that is where human rights are violated.

"It is hard for a Kosovar see a Serbian raise the Serbian flag when he knows the day his street were being tourched or massacred his neighbor was playing loud Serbian music with the lyrics "Kosovo is Serbias forever""

And this point just proves that Albanians have problems with Serbs. If you think that Serbs will be kissing your Albanian flag, which in fact is the Flag of Montenegro dynasty which was then used by Kastrioti family, you must be very wrong.

This is where i see the problem, that albanians will always use every single opportunity to attack serbs for any reason. Example even though you did not know for sure how the two albanian boys drowned in march 2003, you performed ethnic clensing on serbs, just because you found another reason to attack them.

Serbs will fight back, and as Mir said, we lost Kosovo and Metohija before, but we fought for it back when the climate was in our favour. The same will happen in the future.

Unless both sides feel that they became winners of the negotiations, war is inevitable. And Serbia will feel like a winner if it gets its own part of KiM, and I am sure you will feel like a winner when you get an independent state.

go and hide in what ever country you are hiding from. And then when the war happens, buy some beer and some popcorn and enjoy the CNN coverage. Be a proud siptar in front of TV, and when there are commercials use it so you dont piss in your pants.

Here is a link to serb bravery. They were doing ok while the unarmed and women and children but when it got tought they all went home like little bitches that they are. I am in Kosova and again cant wait for the next war. Kosova will be your death that I guarantee.

And here is another how serbs respect their own churches.Look how serbs respect their own churches. They use it as a training ground.http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5779238278466899710&pl=true

Ivan also when you say Albanian you mean the Kosovo Albanians, right? Because I found the Albanians from Albania friendly comparing to the Kosovo ones. So I dont believe its completely fair to blame it entirely on all the Albanians. Just my opinion.

"Here is a link to serb bravery. They were doing ok while the unarmed and women and children but when it got tought they all went home like little bitches that they are. I am in Kosova and again cant wait for the next war. Kosova will be your death that I guarantee."

Kosovo never won the war, NATO bombings, which might i add destroyed or damaged non military buildings and institutions in Serbia forced Serb forces out of Kosovo, and the KLA never had an effect on Serbian Military forces.

bty, the Kosovo Liberation Army which has had support from western powers, has many links to terrorism.